I. An outline of the Vedic Literature

At the dawn of human civilization, the intense aspiration to know, to reach and to be one with the Supreme Godhead, roused the deepest spiritual realization in the hearts of a few souls in India.

We call these spiritual beings Rishis
They named the Supreme Godhead Brahman
And the Scripture containing their realized Truth is The Veda

We know that the Veda was divided into four distinct parts - The Rik, The Sam, the Yaju and the Atharva- by none other than the great sage, Krishna Dwipayana and for this colossal work he came to be better known as Vedavyasa.

India did not produce "a Herodotus or a Thucydides" But she had given birth to these Rishis, who have left for us the Vedas- bequeathing not only an astounding literary legacy but an in-depth and detailed picture of the most advanced socio-economic condition of a race that lived more than five thousand years ago.

The Vedic Literature, in its origin is again divided into two- The Mantras or Samhitas and the Brahmana. The Samhitas are clusters of hymns and in the Brahmanas, we find the discourses relating to the method of their uses and applications. "Mantrabrahmanayorvedanamadheyam" "Mantra and Brahmana together are known as Veda."
Again the Brahmanas are divided into two- the Aranyaka and the Upanishads.

To have a brief idea of the categories:

THE SAMHITAS are collection of Mantras written in verse and constitute the main structure of the Vedas. They are the purest and most unaltered legacy of that age. Since they are the expressions of the Truth realized by such great Seers as Viswamitra, Bamadeva, Angira Kuthsya and others, they are regarded with humble obeisance, high esteem, believed to carry mystic powers and are kept pristine and unpolluted.

THE BRAHMANAS deal with the application, justification and elucidation of the Mantras. The term "Brahmana" (the initial 'a' as in glass) is derived from " Brahman" (the initial 'a' as in fall), which means 'ever-expanding'. The Brahmanas that are handed down to us (taking into consideration that many have become non- existent) might not be as original as the Samhitas. This does not necessarily mean that they are not as old as the Samhitas. This only justifies the fact that since the Brahmanas were written primarily in prose, the proper carrier of an intelligent mind and not in verse which is a tool of the illumined heart, they have gone through changes in expression as and when the time demanded. Nevertheless, this by no means minimize the importance or authenticity of the Brahmanas in the Vedic Literature.

THE ARANYAKAS are the concluding parts of the Brahmanas and deal with the Science of Occult Science. The term "Aranyaka" was not there in the Vedic Literature and is a later attribution. According to the lore, in order to study this section of the Vedas, the seeker or the student had to be away from the human society- in the midst of Aranya or forest. The Vedas insist that Knowledge and Science of Yagna or Offering is to be studied in seclusion and once the student master the knowledge, he should come back to locality, preach and practice that Knowledge, since no knowledge could be completely mastered without the art of its application. Furthermore, it has been again and mentioned that life is nothing but a Yagna -an offering at the feet of the Supreme Godhead. So the best way to perform the Yagna, a dedicated and harmonious life style was mandatory. We get the reverberation of the same thought in the famous saying of Sri Aurobindo, "All life is Yoga".

THE UPANISHADS deal with the Knowledge of Supreme Soul or Brahman. As Aranyakas are the concluding parts of the Brahmanas, so are the Upanishads of the Aranyakas.

Upanishads are by far the most acclaimed, widely discussed and popularly known parts of the Vedic Literature. The Gita and the Upanishads together are accepted as the mandatory study (swadhyaya) for the initiates.

The generally accepted derivative meaning of the word 'Upanishad' is 'to sit close-by. For a long time, and also being supported by the interpretation of the European scholars, that has given the idea that since the pupils received the lessons, sitting around the Acharya or the preceptor, this section of the Vedic study came to be known as "Upanishad".

During the Vedic period, all classes were held in open air with the teacher sitting in the middle, being surrounded by his disciples. This practice can be observed even today in India where the Vedic Schools are in effect. It did not matter whether the subject taught was philosophy or astronomy or medicine or farming. Why then this particular science came to be known as the Upanishad?

According to Srimad Anirvan, one of the greatest acclaimed scholars of the Vedas, NOWHERE in the original Vedic Literature has the root 'sad' being used to denote 'to sit'.

The oldest Samhitas used the term 'Upanishad' to mean either 'Feeling of the pouring Grace' or 'Hidden Truth'. This meaning can be combined with the practice of sitting around the able Teacher, who can impart to the students the 'Feeling of the pouring Grace' or open to them the door to the "Hidden Truth". This interpretation clearly reveals the true meaning, the mode of study and the profound philosophy of the Upanishads.